THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL

A poll conducted by the DAB majority political party this week showed the following results.

N.B. though the survey's 553 respondents were supposedly drawn from a representative sampling of the population, 52.8% of them were 51 years or older. (Does this demographic skewing throw up a red flag?)

Since the survey was in chinese, i have restated the results here:

Do you feel that air pollution has improved in recent years?
Improved (7.2%) Same (40.9%) Worse than before (47.2%) No comment (4.7%)

What aspects of HK's air quality are you the most dissatisfied about?
Lower visibility (24.2%) Roadside emission (58%) Other (11.4%) No comment (6.3%)

Are you willing to pay more higher bus fares and electricity rates if the government implements air pollution reduction measures?
Yes (24.1%) Will consider, depending on amount of increase (53.2%) No (27.8%) No comment (3.6%)

Are you willing to pay 15% more in bus fares to speed up replacement of old buses?
Yes (24.1%) No (57.9%) No comment (18.1%)

Do you support bus route rationalization in your own neighborhood to reduce emissions, even though it might cause you some inconvenience?
Yes (51%) No (27.1%) No comments (21.9%)
***I was shocked to see this survey result since both politicians and bus companies constantly tell us that such measures provoke insurmountable political resistance. One has to ask, of the 553 surveyed, how many actually ride the bus every day? On the other hand, such a result is obviously heartening.

Are you willing to pay 20% more for electricity from natural gas, rather than power plants, in order to reduce air pollution?
Yes (21.5%) No (61.8%) No comment (16.6%)

Do you support Government's proposal to establish low emission zones in Mongkok, Central and Causeway Bay, banning all old commercial vehicles, even though this may result in some inconvenient rerouting to these vehicles?
Yes (32.7%) No (36.5%) No comment (30.7%)

Who do you think should bear the cost of cleaning up air pollution?
The public (2.5%) Business (29.7%) Government (25.3%) All three parties (42.5%)

The poll results corroborate what we have been saying for some time:
Hong Kong people, across the board, are well aware of the deterioration in air quality in recent years. BUT, THEY BELIEVE, RIGHTLY, IN OUR OPINION, THAT THE CONSUMER SHOULD NOT BEAR THE BRUNT OF PAYING FOR CLEAN-UP MEASURES.

Christine Loh, our Chairman, made an excellent point in her most recent editorial, http://hongkongcan.org/eng/2009/11/20/love-it-or-leave-it/
The Government shot itself in the foot by suggesting at the beginning of the public consultation that consumers ALONE would have to shoulder the financial burden of abatement measures. The Government's failure to approach the cost-sharing issue with greater realism has now created NEEDLESS political resistance to their proposal to phase out old buses early. In the minds of the public, ANY solution is acceptable provided there is cost SHARING. There are indeed many ways to skin a cat. Thus, the suggestion that consumers had better "love it or leave it", was needlessly divisive. Thankfully, there is still plenty of time to cobble together a very reasonable cost-sharing proposal that all stakeholders can accept.